Baffle assembly and method of forming same



N. A. CARTER I BAFFLE ASSEMBLY AND METHOD OF FORMING SAME Filed Feb. 19, 1968 INVENTOR NEIL A. CARTER BY 2 W ATT Y United States Patent 3,460,580 BAFFLE ASSEMBLY AND METHOD OF FORMING SAME Neil A. Carter, Danville, Califl, assignor to Cenco Instruments Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 19, 1968, Ser. No. 706,322 Int. Cl. F161 55/00; Fd 1/00 US. Cl. 138-42 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A bafile assembly having good diffusion characteristics formed by baffle plates inserted into angularly disposed slots extending inwardly from opposite ends of a supporting ring. The baffle plates may be sealingly locked into position by encapsulation, for example, by casting a second ring around the supporting ring. Each baffle plate has the inner edge in opposition to a side face of an opposed plate to assure maximum diffusion while not materially increasing resistance to flow. A baffle assembly cooling arrangement is also shown.

This invention relates to diffusers or baffle assemblies particularly adapted for use in vacuum systems and the like.

Vacuum systems, especially those capable of producing high vacuums, have found many uses in industry and scientific applications. In a typical system which is used to produce high vacuums in applications such as vacuum coating of metals, insulating electronic components and transformers, potting under vacuum, vacuum dehydration of blood plasma, foods, etc., and coating of lenses, to mention a few, a vacuum pump is used in combination with a diffusion pump. In an analog or schematic of a system of this type, the vacuum chamber may be formed by a bell jar or the like positioned over a pump plate and the interior of the chamber may be joined to the difiusion pump through a cold trap and baffle. In some instances, the cold trap may be omitted. The vacuum chamber is also connected to the fore pump or vacuum pump through a separate line, which line may be joined to the outlet end of the diffusion pump just ahead of the inlet to the vacuum pump. Suitable valving is provided to control the path of evacuation, as after roughing, the final vacuum is applied by an oil diffusion pump.

As is well known, the oil diffusion, pump is a rather basic element for high-volume vacuum technology. One of the problems which exists in using a pump of this type is the diffusion of the hot oil vapor back into the vacuum chamher. This is commonly referred to as back-streaming and has been sought to be avoided by introducing a tortuous path between the diffusion pump and the system. This has been done by simply placing a bend in the line from the diffusion pump to the pump plate or, in the more sophisticated applications, through the insertion of a baffle assembly.

Prior to the present invention, such baffle assembly generally consisted of a housing having a plurality of chevron-shaped baffle plates welded in alignment with some overlap to produce an optical baffle. The positioning and welding the individual plates was cumbersome, time consuming and comparatively speaking, expensive. The resulting baffle assembly could be air or liquid cooled. It was possible in such a design for oil molecules or droplets to pass through the baffie without actually contacting the baffle plates. Naturally, the passages may not be too tortuous or they will adversely affect the effective speed of the pump. Nonetheless, this consideration must be bal- 3,460,580 Patented Aug. 12, 1969 anced against the need for an effective baflle or barrier which will prevent back-streaming.

The present invention relates to a new and improved baffle assembly and method of forming the same. The novel arrangement of the baffle plates provides a more effective baffle assembly to minimize the possibility of back-streaming while not materially affecting the effective speed of the diffusion pump. In the present baffle assembly, the baffle plates are formed from flat stock, being mounted in a base ring, arranged with the inner ends in opposition to a side face of an opposing baffle plate which is inserted from the opposite side of the ring. This will become more apparent upon consideration of a summary of the method by which the novel baffle assembly is made. The base ring, which may be of annular or rectangular form, is provided with a plurality of slots which are angulated relative to the axis of the ring. The slots extend longitudinally from opposite ends of the ring toward a plane intermediate the ends; however, the slots, because of the angulated arrangement, terminate short of each other. This provides for good ring rigidity while also establishing a pattern for accurate insertion of the baffle plates. Into the slots are inserted a plurality of baffle plates which are of generally rectangular form. The plates may be trimmed to a suitable length prior or after insertion and the entire subassembly, consisting of the base ring and inserted and trimmed plates, receives a second ring which is cast around the periphery of the base ring. This serves to encapsulate the base ring and locks the baffle plates rigidly in the slots. If desired, the encapsulating ring may include a plurality of cooling passages adapted for attachment to a source of cooling fluid.

The novel pattern of arranging the bafile plates provides for good diffusion and assures contact of a maximum number of molecules of the gas being evacuated. Any oil vapor striking the cooled baffles will condense and return by gravity to the diffusion pump. The total baffle plate area may be increased over the area available with the chevron-type baflie for a comparable axial thickness. Greater heat conductance is provided with the ends of the baffles embedded in the second ring which is cast around the base ring. The novel manufacturing method permits the use of diverse materials for the baffle, base ring and encapsulating ring. The novel ring and method of forming provides other advantages in the form of reduced cost, greater ease in manufacture and assembly and choice of materials. Other advantages will become apparent upon consideration of the objects achieved.

It is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved baffle assembly having better diffusion characteristics.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a new and improved baflle assembly having uniquely mounted and arranged baffle plates to improve diffusion while not materially increasing the resistance to flow.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a new and improved method of forming baffie assemblies of an improved type in a novel manner.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a new and improved process for forming a baffle assembly which is economical and permits flexibility in the choice of the materials used.

Other objects of this invention will become apparent upon reference to the accompanying drawings and attendant description.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a bafflle illustrating the features of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged elevational view of the baffles shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view taken generally along the line 33 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view on a reduced scale of the base ring used in forming the baffles after slotting;

FIGURE 5 is the base ring of FIGURE 4 after insertion of the bafl'le plates;

FIGURE 6 is the ring of FIGURE 5 after the ends of the plates have been trimmed;

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of a modified form of baffle assembly; and

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary elevational view of the baflie assembly of FIGURE 1 installed in a line extending from the pump plate to the diffusing pump.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, reference numeral 10 indicates a bafiie assembly formed in accordance with the principles and method of the present invention. The baflie assembly 10 consists of a base or mounting ring 11 and encapsulating ring 12 and a plurality of baffle plates 13, 1'4, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19, and 20 (visible in FIGURE 3 only).

As is apparent in the elevational view of FIGURE 2 and cross-sectional view of FIGURE 3, the optical path presented by the baffle plate arrangement assures that fluid passing through the bafile assembly will contact at least one of the baffle plates and, in most instances, more than one plate. If the baffle assembly is air-cooled, the temperature of the fluid passing through may be modified to approach that of the ambient or, if an artificial coolant is supplied, that of the coolant.

A better understanding of the construction of the baflle assembly will be had upon consideration of the method of forming the same. FIGURES 46 illustrate the sequential steps used in forming a baflle subassembly which may be finally encapsulated and machined to the form of FIGURES 1-3. As illustrated in FIGURE 4, a plurality of opposed slots and 31, 33 and 34, 35 and 36, 37 and 38 are formed in one end of the mounting ring 11. As is apparent, the opposed slots 36 and 31 and adjoining pairs are formed at an angle to the longitudinal axis or axis of revolution of the base or mounting ring 11 and are generally parallel to each other. Corresponding pairs of slots are formed in the opposite end of the ring extending inwardly and being indicated at 40, 41 (not shown), 42 and 43, 44 and 45, 46 (not shown) and 47. The slots formed in the opposite end of the ring are disposed at an angle which may be normal to the angle of the slot on the opposing edge and are generally parallel to each other. This may be readily observed by reference to the cross-sectional view of FIGURE 3.

It can be appreciated that the slots are readily formed by any suitable means such as milling, sawing or the like, With opposite aligned slots formed simultaneously. After the slots have been formed, the baffle plates are inserted as illustrated in FIGURE 5. If desired, the plates may be trimmed to length in advance of the insertion step or, in the alternative, plates of the general length may be inserted with opposite ends projecting beyond the periphery of the base or mounting ring 11 as shown in FIGURE 5.

The relationship of the width of the slot to the thickness of the baffle plate may be such that the plate are held in place by the interference of the sides with the sides of the slot. If the plates extend beyond the periphery of the base ring as shown in FIGURE 5, they may be subsequently trimmed to length to form an assembly of the type shown in FIGURE 6 with the ends of the respective bafiies circumferentially coextensive with the periphery of the base ring 11 and forming a completed baflle subassembly.

In the usual case, it is desirable to encapsulate the subassembly to firmly secure and seal the baffle plates to the base ring 11. This may be conveniently accomplished by molding or casting an outer ring, shown at 12 in FIGURES l3, around the subassembly of FIG- 4 URE 6. In the illustrated form of the invention, the encapsulating ring 12 was formed of cast aluminum subsequently machined to the annular shape shown. Obviously, the ring configuration may be changed to any desired shape such as oval, rectangular or the like without departing from the inventive principles.

Upon completion of the encapsulation, the baffle plates are securely locked into the base ring and the ends securely sealed against air leakage. If desired, each of the baffles may project slightly beyond the circumference or outer periphery of the ring 11 which assures that they will be rigidly held on molding or casting the encapsulating ring 12 around the base ring 11.

A modified form of the invention is shown in FIGURE 7 fragmentarily at 50, having a base or mounting ring 51 of the type described above and baffles 52, 53, 54 and 55 which are disposed and arranged in accordance with the baffles shown in FIGURES 1-6. The embodiment of FIGURE 7 differs from the embodiment shown above in that the encapsulating ring 56 is formed with a plurality of passages or conduits 57, 58 and 59. These conduits are in communication with each other with external connections (not shown) provided to permit fluid to be circulated through the encapsulating ring. If desired, the conduits 57-59 may be located in direct circumferential contact with the mounting or base ring 51 or the ends of the baffle plates for good heat conducting relation and greater cooling efficiency. In this mamrer, the baffie plates may be brought to any desired temperature by circulating a refrigerant or artificial cooling medium through the conduits. As a suitable alternative, the conduits may be formed of a suitable tubing helically wound about the base ring in advance of the encapsulation step.

A typical application of the baffle assembly 10 is shown in schematic form in FIGURE 8. The baffle assembly 10 is positioned between a diffusing pump 60 and a conduit 61 which leads to the pump plate forming a part of the vacuum chamber. The baffle assembly 10 is located at the inlet end of the diffusing pump 60 and is located so that any back-streaming fluid will strike the baffle plates, condense on the baffle plates, and drip back into the diffusing pump under the force of gravity. Thus, the vacuum chamber will be free of contamination from the diffusion pump.

It can be appreciated that the baffle assembly of the present invention, while providing an extremely dense optical path, does not severely impede the actual flow through the baffle. The inner edge of each of the plates is in opposed relation to the side face of the plate on the opposite side of the mounting ring 11. While these are shown to be on geometric axes which are approximately normal to each other, they can be varied and not depart from the principles of the present invention. As can be appreciated from the illustration in FIGURE 3, these geometric axes will intersect. Because of the location and angularity of the plates, a greater cooling area is provided within the axial limitations on ring thickness and, therefore, better diflusion and cooling is obtained when compared to the chevron-type diffuser discussed above. Also, the use of diverse materials in the manufacture of the ring is permitted for maximum economy and greater ease of machining. The method of manufacturing the bafife assembly is much more convenient than the former brazing or welding techniques which Were commonplace in forming the herringbone design.

Upon a consideration of the foregoing, it will become obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made without departing from the invention embodied herein. Therefore, only such limitations should be imposed as are indicated by the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A baffle assembly for use with diffusion pumps to prevent back-streaming while permitting the free flow of fluid therethrough, said baffle assembly comprising a housing formed by a ring having a central axis, said ring having a plurality of slots formed therein, said slots being formed on opposite sides of the ring and at an angle relative to said axis, each of said slots terminating short of the edge opposite the edge of said ring from which it extends, the slot formed in one edge having an axis which intersects With the axis of an opposed slot formed in the other edge which is slightly offset relative to the other edge and a baflle plate inserted into each of said slots to provide a baffle plate arrangement extending in overlapping relation continuously across the opening defined by said ring.

2. The bafiie assembly of claim 1 wherein said ring is circumferentially encapsulated by a second ring to rigidly and sealingly hold said plates to said ring.

3. The bafiie assembly of claim 1 wherein the axially extending ends of said baffle plates project slightly beyond the outer periphery of said ring for imbedding in a second ring which is cast about said ring to encapsulate said ring and maintain said plates rigidly positioned and sealed to said ring.

4. The bafiie assembly of claim 1 wherein the inner edges of each of said batfie plates are in laterally offset relation relative to each other.

References Cited.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,508,765 5/1950 Morand 230-401 2,703,673 3/1955 Winkler 230102 X 3,051,452 8/1962 Nobel l3842 X 3,321,927 5/1967 Hood 230-101 X DONLEY J. STOCKING, Primary Examiner WARREN J. KRAUSS, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 230-101 

